Descenders

[coolie]

Im considering purchasing a mechanical descender(s) for single rope use.

We(the crew) are all ddrt most of the time, but more frequently it is a good option to use srt.

We use XTC Plus(1/2''?) and that limits the options.

I would really like a descender that is primarily good for descending the tail of a choked off rope while chogging down.At the moment Im leaning toward the Petzl ID,but I have never seen one in action.

Any users? Any tips appreciated.

[Peter]

Expensive and bulky, as well as annoying to use.

 

 

Any tips?

 

Get a thinner rope and your choices are much wider.

[DrewB]

you could use your hitch and set it up like the F8 revolver way, it works surprisingly well.

[coolie]

you could use your hitch and set it up like the F8 revolver way, it works surprisingly well.

 

Yeah thanks Drew,I have had a couple of rec climbs using the F8/revolver,that I learnt off Kevin Binghams post,but havent progressed to using it in a work situation yet.Still practicing.

Im now considering a unicender for the crew.How do you rate it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXwrXgN0qw]YouTube - the F8 revolver[/ame]

[DrewB]

hmmmm the unicender. Im still not totally convinced by it tbh. Its an awesome tool for srt work with ability to ascend/descend but i find climbing the whole tree on srt a bit weird as im so used to Dbrt. I dont like the uni in Dbrt mode as i prfer my vt/hitchclimber too much. If the work is mostly up/down then srt with the uni would be ideal. pm Jonno as he uses it everday(i think) to get more details. The newer version does address some of the problems though as its got a pulley to guide the rope in better and it traps the rope better. The uni is hard to put into words!

[coolie]

hmmmm the unicender. Im still not totally convinced by it tbh. Its an awesome tool for srt work with ability to ascend/descend but i find climbing the whole tree on srt a bit weird as im so used to Dbrt. I dont like the uni in Dbrt mode as i prfer my vt/hitchclimber too much. If the work is mostly up/down then srt with the uni would be ideal. pm Jonno as he uses it everday(i think) to get more details. The newer version does address some of the problems though as its got a pulley to guide the rope in better and it traps the rope better. The uni is hard to put into words!

 

We should invite him to post an instructional video, hint hint.

[D Mc]

The newer version does address some of the problems though as its got a pulley to guide the rope in better and it traps the rope better. The uni is hard to put into words!

 

I would love to see this new version as I have not heard of it. I have incorporated a pulley to mine. It is useful in some situations. As an improvement, I have made the suggestion that the rope be captured in the lower gate. However, the Uni works very well as is; like Drew said, it is hard to explain.

 

With that said, not everyone will like it; just like not everyone would like to drive a red Ferrari...really???

 

Dave

[the swede]

Hi! Newbie here and mostly lurking and learning. But coming from the rope access business this is something I know about. The ID is a great descender for rope access with good control over the descent with the big handle. But that is when you are "freehanging" in the rope. When you are on a slope or say limbwalking with a copule of meters rope under your feet you will have to feed the rope trough the ID. And there is some safety toothed cam that will engage making the feeding process a nightmare. And the size and weight make it hard to handle when you don't have tension in the rope.

 

There will be a new version out in 2010 that is smaller and lacks the toothed cam and the panic stop but it's a lot smaller and nicer to handle.

 

Are you just gonna use it for descending straight down it's lovely, good control and quick lock off with the handle. And a nice feature is that you install it on the rope without unclipping it from your harness so you won't drop it.

 

In rope acces I use my ID but not for treework.

 

/the swede

[DrewB]

there is a small vid on treetools with jono on the uni but its not much, well try and get round to making a proper one someday. This is the mods that morgan sent re the new uni.

[coolie]

Im pretty convinced now that a uni on a choked single line would some work through.Ill keep it in my kit.